Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Nature's mosquito repellent (that you haven't thought of)

Yeah, it's garlic.

Just an interesting factoid: eating a lot of garlic has a mild protective effect against mosquitoes. If you eat a clove of garlic a
day, the sulfur you admit through your skin confuses mosquitoes and makes it a little more difficult for them to
find you.

If you really want to use garlic to avoid mosquitoes, though,
you’ll get better results rubbing it on your skin - but you may drive off
friends and coworkers that way, too.

This roasted garlic recipe has a lot more virtue than just keeping
the bugs away. Garlic has real heart benefits, such as lowering blood pressure
and cholesterol. It’s got loads of antioxidants, vitamin C and
selenium. Garlic also helps with detox.

Not to forget, roasted garlic is just plain delicious. Use it as a
savory spread on meat or on starches. It’s a great alternative to butter
when you’re eating baked potatoes. It’s the basis for a lovely salad
dressing and can be incorporated into soups, stews or sauces for an added burst of flavor.

Ingredients for roasting garlic

Heads of garlic (however much you need)

Olive oil, as needed

Sprinkle of sea salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Remove the 'paper' from the outside of the garlic heads, while leaving the cloves connected.

Cut the top of the heads, just enough to expose all of the cloves to the heat.

Use olive oil to coat the bottom of a pan just big enough to contain the heads without touching the sides.

Put the garlic in the pan, cut-side up. Lightly coat with additional
olive oil, to help prevent burning. Sprinkle a very small amount of sea
salt on top, then cover with aluminum foil.

Roast in the oven for 40-75 minutes. Check at 40 minutes and every
ten minutes or so thereafter. The smell should be deliciously pungent
and the center clove should be soft when poked with a knife. You can
continue cooking after its done for a deeper and more intense flavor.

Let cool about fifteen minutes, then remove the cloves by pushing them
out of its paper from the bottom. Roasted garlic can be stored in a
tightly closed container in the refrigerator for about two weeks or
frozen up to three months.